Magazine

SPECIAL FOCUS: WEB USABILITY

Editor's Page

Almost five years after the Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine's first issue appeared, the last issue goes up on the Web in much the same manner that the first issue appeared--quietly and without fanfare. In this issue, Publisher John December bids readers an understated final farewell56 issues after he welcomed readers to the publication.

As with previous issues, this one includes articles from credible writers who focus on the subject-of-the-month without hype or bravado. This issue, which focuses on web site usability, features articles from the following writers:

• Rakhi Rajani and Dr. Duska Rosenberg share their findings from a web site usability study they conducted at Brunel University's Centre for Information Environments Research. In Usable?...Or Not?...Factors Affecting the Usability of Web Sites, they prove that most users prefer simplicity in page design. In addition, Rosenberg and Rajani's research takes into account multi modal interfaces and whether "ultimate" usability is possible.

• Dr. Arthur Murphy, a researcher at Georgia Tech who also serves on the United State Government's Electronic and Information Technology Access Advisory Committee, discusses accessibility issues for blind and low-vision users in Web Usability and Technology. In Web Usability and Technology, he explains that poor web design can hinder the capabilities of special browsers used by the sight impaired.

• Greg Elmer, who teaches communications at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, contends in Web Rings as Computer-Mediated Communication that Web rings serve as an alternative for some users who want to find information on a specific topic but want to avoid the hierarchical nature of search engines.

• Robley Curtice brings us an overview of the fall Computer Dealer's Expo (COMDEX) which took place recently in Las Vegas, Nevada in Notes from the Road: Fall COMDEX is Still a Killer.

These writers, like others before them, contributed to the publication because they loved what they wrote about and not because they were paid for their efforts. No one ever was. Therein lies the simple truth why this publication, which began before HotWired appeared, lasted longer than many fly-by-night Web shops. It was a labor of love, not of money.

Amelia DeLoach joined the CMC Magazine staff in October, 1994.

Copyright © 1999 by Amelia DeLoach. All Rights Reserved.